THE state government’s announcement that it will look at outsourcing Commonwealth-funded elective surgeries to public and potentially interstate providers has received a mixed response from the health sector.
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Health Minister Michael Ferguson said last week that the Department of Health and Human Services would establish a panel of public and private providers to perform elective surgeries and endoscopies under a $25.9 million Commonwealth funding deal.
Mr Ferguson said some procedures could potentially be performed interstate, allowing further options if Tasmanian services were unavailable.
Australian Nursing Midwifery Federation state secretary Neroli Ellis said the Tasmanian public sector should be the first option for providing the surgeries.
Mrs Ellis said it was sometimes appropriate to outsource procedures to private providers, but she was concerned to see such a large amount of money up for grabs.
‘‘That money could be well utilised by reopening some of the closed beds and reopening some of the closed theatre suites to actually start making inroads to elective surgery waiting lists,’’ Mrs Ellis said.
Launceston General Hospital surgeon and former director of surgery, Berni Einoder, was concerned that some surgery funding could go interstate.
‘‘If the state government has some money to fund more cases, they should fund the public hospital better so they have the staff, the facilities and the equipment to do it,’’ Professor Einoder said.
‘‘And if we don’t have it we should then offer it to the private hospitals in the state to do it, so we can keep the money in the state.’’
But Australian Medical Association state president Tim Greenaway was open to outsourcing more surgeries, saying it was done routinely elsewhere.
‘‘The issue of course is that the government would have to do this carefully and do it in the way that it has been done elsewhere, so that people do not feel that their private health insurance becomes value-less,’’ Dr Greenaway said.
Mr Ferguson said a panel of providers would provide capacity to do significant volumes of surgery, well beyond what could be achieved in Tasmania’s public hospitals.
‘‘This is a valuable opportunity to get people who have waited for treatment for up to 10 years off the waiting list and into treatment,’’ Mr Ferguson said.
